Tipped off: Pitch-tipping paranoia haunting teams in October

NEW YORK (AP) — Astros manager AJ Hinch has heard the chatter — that Rays starter Tyler Glasnow was offering a sneak peek on his offspeed deliveries, that Houston had a poker-worthy tell on Yankees hard throwers James Paxton and Luis Severino.

All that pitch-tipping paranoia?

"I think it's kind of funny," Hinch said.

A year after suspicions on sign stealing made headlines when a man associated with the Astros was caught pointing a cellphone into opposing dugouts, Houston is giving pitchers pause again, perhaps with nothing more than the naked eye.

There's no rule against noticing a tipped pitch, and Hinch stated plainly during this AL Championship Series who is at fault if Houston knows what's coming.

"If they don't want to tip their pitches," Hinch said, "then they should take consideration into doing the same thing over and over again."

Batter's box espionage can take two forms — pitch tipping or sign stealing. The first totally legal, just a matter of good scouting. Hitters might get an idea from the angle of the pitcher's glove or the wiggle of his wrist.

"If you, as a pitcher, show something different to the hitters, as professional hitters, they're going to take advantage of that," said Nationals right-hander Aníbal Sánchez, who nearly threw a no-hitter in the NL Championship Series opener at St. Louis. "It's no doubt."

On sign stealing, legality can get blurrier. A runner on second base has a clear view of the catcher's signals, and there's no rule against taking a peek and discretely relaying that info to the batter — although the opposing battery might still take issue. That's a practice old as Cracker Jacks.

Smart devices and other fresh tech have opened another frontier for potential pilferers. Even before alarms were sounded in Cleveland and...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Tipped-off-Pitch-tipping-paranoia-haunting-teams-14537726.php